Andy Burnham has called for Gianni Infantino to quit as the head of football’s international ruling body in the wake of the controversial plan to sell a stake in the World Cup.
The Prime Minister said Mr Infantino was “the wrong man to lead the organisation” amid an international backlash to the investment plan.
Fifa’s plans to sell a minority stake in a new company, Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), to private investors first emerged in media reports on Tuesday.
Fifa later confirmed that Thrive Eternal – a company founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – had been earmarked as the leader of the investor group.
The plan has been rejected by the European and Asian confederations, as well as the one representing nations from North and Central America, with European nations threatening to boycott Fifa competitions until the project is scrapped.
When asked if Mr Infantino should quit, Mr Burnham, a keen Everton supporter, told reporters during a visit to Sheffield: “This was an outrageous suggestion.
“The idea that it could even be brought forward shows that, in my view, that [Infantino] is the wrong man to lead the organisation.”
Mr Infantino’s senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, announced his resignation on Friday morning, with the investment banker calling the FFE proposal “a bad deal for football”.
Criticism also came from Fifa’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who said in a statement that staff had been “deceived” by Mr Infantino’s lack of openness in planning the scheme and “deserve better than contempt and intimidation”.
Critics of the plans have expressed concerns that private investors would seek ever bigger, ever more frequent tournaments to maximise returns.
Fifa is seeking an independent agency to consider expanding the men’s World Cup from 48 to 64 teams from the next tournament in 2030, according to documents seen by the Press Association.
The views of fans would not be at the heart of the work, the document indicated.
The Fifa brief said: “Consumer or fan evidence may be used where it helps, but it should not become the centre of the study that remains a B2B (business-to-business) focused study.
“The analysis should enable a clear strategic judgment: does a 64-team format expand global relevance and participation in a way that strengthens the football economy, or do dilution, calendar congestion, execution complexity and saturation undermine the proposition?”
A boycott of Fifa tournaments by the European ruling body Uefa would mean England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland refusing to take part, along with the other European teams.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy backed the boycott, saying: “Football belongs to the fans, not billionaire investors. Enough is enough. It’s time to take a stand to protect our game.”
Mr Burnham has also backed Uefa’s stance on the issue.
